


the sea's blessing

by moonsprite



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Gender-neutral Reader, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other, sea god!Akaashi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:06:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24137833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonsprite/pseuds/moonsprite
Summary: A misfit and an outcast in your village, one day you are pushed into the sea and happen to end up in the throne room of the sea god Akaashi. After hearing your life story, he decides to take you in.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	the sea's blessing

"You monster!"

A quick shove, a blink of your eyes, a slip of your foot, and you were tumbling down, down, down before you could even take a single breath and oh –

It seemed like even water could hurt you if you hit it hard enough. Strange that you could be 70% water and have 206 bones but still have a body soft enough to cave and fly from a single push, a fumble in time –

Mm, at least the water wasn’t cold. But you could feel the air leaking out of you, bubbles rising towards the surface as you closed your eyes. Your limbs felt like lead, pulling you ever deeper. Maybe you could finally have some sl –

"Hmm. And who might you be, mortal?"

You suddenly realized that you could breathe, and found your body being turned around by two sparkling fish. Looking up, you saw before you someone you could only describe as a deity. His fine raiment and golden trident clearly designated him a ruler, a king. The coral and shimmering stones that lined the ground beneath you and the brilliant throne that the king was seated on suggested you had somehow landed in his throne room.

But what really took your breath away was the brilliant aura that emanated from his very being. It was so bright that you could only look so far up as the golden cord around his waist, and you looked back down to save your sight.

"Answer Lord Akaashi!" The fish on your right nudged you, and you turned in alarm to see that it was staring at you.

"Ah, that’s right. You still can’t see them. It has been a while since I have met a mortal from above."

With a rush of bubbles in your face, you blinked furiously several times before opening your eyes and realizing that the fish next to you were actually mermen, and the god before you was alarmingly beautiful. Not wanting to be offensive in your surprise, you did your best to gather your composure before speaking.

"I apologize, Lord Akaashi. I was pushed into the sea and thought I had drowned. Thank you for saving me."

"And why were you pushed?"

"… I was not welcome in my village any longer."

Somehow the lord of the seas made you feel like you could tell him anything, and for some reason he listened quietly to your life story as it spilled out of you, nodding at parts and frowning at others. You told him about your childhood, about how the other children would call you names like ‘demon’ and ‘monster’ because of your skin and hair color, how the other adults would blame accidents like a house fire or a dead animal on you, and finally, how your own parents agreed to sacrifice you for the sake of the village that had been recently ravaged by storms and disease.

At the end of your tale, the lord stood up from his seat and approached you. Resting a warm hand on your head, he graced you with a small smile.

"You should not have suffered so, and yet you still love. You have done well to come so far, young one. Heed not what you have been told. You are no monster, but rather a brave and strong human whose special fate has brought them here, the cradle of the sea."

* * *

  


From that point on, Lord Akaashi took you on as his mortal companion of sorts. The two of you traveled through the seas and occasionally above land together, and he showed you how beautiful the world was. You learned how to swim from the mermen that were always around him, even though he said you didn’t have to learn since he could just swoosh you along with him. 

He still enjoyed seeing the marvel in your eyes every time you experienced something new, a feeling that was foreign to the ancient deity except for the moments when he was watching you, a human unafraid of the depths of the ocean or the face of the sea god despite all you had been through. 

Perhaps it was easier for you to live this way, he mused as he watched you laugh with the mermaids collecting seashells and hermit crabs.

You looked back at him and smiled, and he felt reassured seeing the peace in your eyes. Even if he didn’t directly wipe out that whole village for the terrible things they did to you – because he knew that would have upset you further – he could live with this, with your soft smile and the cerulean waters tickling his toes as he watched you build a sandcastle for the mermaids to decorate.

But despite the sea’s blessing that Akaashi had placed on you, you still aged because you were mortal. One day when you were watching a group of sea turtles moving about to lay their eggs in the sand, you asked him if he would remember you.

"Of course," he responded, "But do you not wish to be immortal?"

"No… like the tides, there will be a time for me to go. After you have allowed me to experience so much in my life, how could I be so selfish as to insist on staying?"

* * *

  


Many years later, he lays your body to rest in a watery cove, protected by rich foliage and a clear view of the skies. With his golden tears and the prongs of his trident, Akaashi sketches you in the stars, forever smiling down upon the wide ocean you once called home.

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a beautiful piece of art depicting a merman with a crown and sword, and suddenly this AU came to mind. I love mythology, fantasy, and constellations so this fic came to be. Akaashi felt like the perfect fit when I thought about a kind sea god who would help a mortal.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Find this and more of my Haikyuu writing on tumblr @sosugasweet - headcanons, status updates, fic requests, and me chatting about whatever anime I'm watching at the moment.


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